Photo Retouching

live without nets

read morepost a comment Saturday, November 27, 2010; 5:32 PM

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48"x36" @ 300ppi; Photo Manipulation; Photoshop CS4.
Skydiver photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/divemasterking2000/3827673841/
Clouds photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/skyseeker/104645706/

Rachel Nicks

read morepost a comment Friday, May 28, 2010; 5:18 PM

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This is much more of a real world example of a photo retouch job. The changes are more subtle than my other example, and illustrate the goal of most photo retouch work - which is to beautify the subject, rather than to change how the subject looks.

The original photo was taken by Visual Image Photography. For more information about Rachel, check out her IMDB page.

Fountain of Youth

read morepost a comment Friday, May 28, 2010; 3:28 PM

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This is a case study, showing my work modifying someone's face. This is obviously an extreme example. Typically, this dramatic of a change would not be done on a client photo. The extreme nature of the work shown here is simply to illustrate my capabilities.

The photo is from http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=504975

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Collections | Photo Retouching

Photoshop Fixes; Challenge 55

read morepost a comment Saturday, May 1, 2010; 11:45 AM

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Part of Photoshop Fixes Challenge 55:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/1012591@N25/discuss/72157623952908526/

Below are the steps I took. To get this, I used the History Log tool in Photoshop, which embedded my steps into the metadata. Guess what? Flickr has a maximum length for descriptions. The log exceeds that & when I paste it in and click save, the entire description disappears. Took me three tries before I realized the problem. So, I have to edit the log in another editor and then paste it in here.

Had more time than I thought before I had to leave. So, guess how I spent my time....

Ok. My original plan was to save the history log here in the image's description, so I could just pop in and edit it if I had free time while away from home. No go. The history log was 5581 lines long. So, I had to open it in a text editor to trim it up a bit.

After looking through it a while, I think it may not be as useful as just making notes using the Notes tool (found under the eye dropper in the toolbar). The reason - take a look at this excerpt from the history log:
-----------------------------------
Hide current layer
Show current layer
New Layer
Make layer
Select layer “Layer 1”Modification: Add Continuous
Without Make Visible

Delete Layer
Delete current layer
Lasso
Set SelectionTo: polygon
Points: point list
point: 3.483 inches, 2.2 inches
point: 3.483 inches, 2.2 inches
point: 3.481 inches, 2.195 inches
point: 3.481 inches, 2.195 inches
point: 3.481 inches, 2.195 inches
point: 3.481 inches, 2.194 inches
...410 More

Lasso
Add To SelectionFrom: polygon
Points: point list
point: 3.691 inches, 2.189 inches
point: 3.691 inches, 2.189 inches
point: 3.693 inches, 2.184 inches
point: 3.693 inches, 2.184 inches
point: 3.694 inches, 2.183 inches
point: 3.694 inches, 2.183 inches
...387 More

Expand
ExpandBy: 25 pixels
-----------------------------------
Not helpful at all.

So, here is what I did - bear with me, you know how I like to ramble. ;-)

Made standard corrections in Camera Raw:
Temp: -17
Tint: +25
Exposure: +0.70
Blacks: 27
Contrast: 41
Clarity: 81
everything else 0

I did all the spot healing in Camera Raw.

Duplicated the eyes & scaled the height up 10%. Dup'd that layer and changed blend mode to Soft Light, masked out everything but the irises and pupils. Dup'd again and changed blend to Saturation (to bring the colors back - I just wanted the contrast adjustments from the Soft Light layer.

Using a modified brush - mostly for jittering foreground to background color - and setting foreground and background colors to dark red and orange, I painted all over the bricks of the building. Used an inverted luminance mask to help block out the mortar. Set blend to Overlay. Dup'd the layer twice, to increase the color effect.

Wasn't satisfied with the mortar, so drew lines, in black, over all the mortar. Blurred with the blur tool (not the filter), Added a mask, using the luminance of the photo (modified by hand in some spots). Changed blend to Saturation. Dup'd the layer to increase/expand the effect.

Using the same brush as before, with fore/background colors set to two shades of chocolate, painted over the dirt. Masked using inverted luminance of the photo. Blend to Overlay. Dup'd the layer.

Using two shades of green and the three blade grass brush, painted over the grass. Added inverted luminance mask (to adjust the texture). Then used the shape of the painted grass to go back and black out portions of the masks on the dirt layers (to eliminate color overlaps.

Used most of the same process to do the terra cotta planters, but with a hand painted mask. Blend to Overlay.

Painted in dead plants, no mask, Overlay.

Painted in white for the grate, blend to Color (could have used Saturation, I suppose).

Using the same process of a brush with fore/background jitter, I painted his skin. Selected the layer contents and softened with Guassian Blur. Hand painted mask to soften out the flesh hear the hair and hat.

On a new layer, using the healing brush, painted out the bags under his eyes. Reduced opacity to 51% to bring them back a little.

New layer, blend to Hue, painted just a little under the eyes to add the faintest color adjustment to the "bags" area (most peoples skin changes color a little right there).

Same process with the cheeks - very faint pink hue, layer set to Hue, 30%.

Painted on eye whites, Screen, 8%.

Painted on blue for irises, Hue, 75%.

Pink for lips, Hue, 46%.

More neutral for teeth, Color, 100%.

Blond-ish color for hair, Overlay, 43%.

Painted in a solid slate gray for the suit, Hue, 60%. Multiple colors for tie, Soft Light, 100%. Painted in gold for tie clip and pocket watch, Soft Light, 100%. Painted in a more neutral for the shoes, Overlay, 71%.

Painted in a mostly neutral, slightly bluish color for hat, Soft Light. Black for hat band, Saturation.

Painted in a light green for the window trim, but *hated* the color. Changed the blend mode to Saturation, and all was right in the world again.

Painted in a cerulean blue for the curtains, mode to Color, 37%. Painted a dark chocolate for the interior, Soft Light. Painted a mostly brownish light neutral for the window sills, Color Burn, 29%.

The reflection in the glass bothered me. It was now too grainy for my tastes. So, I added another reflection, using a clouds photo (http://www.flickr.com/photos/11939863@N08/1197112406/), masked to the glass area, with a 6.5 Guassian Blur to elimiate the clarity of the clouds photo. Yeah, I probably could have painted that in by hand, rather than used a photo.

Combined all to a Smart Object. Ran Unsharp Mask on the S.O., 127%, 1px, 3 lvls. Ran Lens Correction on the S.O., angle 2.3. I had intended to adjust the perspective, too; but, I was happy with the rotation, so I just left it (doing it this way, I can go back and see the amount of rotation I used, as opposed to the transform tool).

Increased the canvas size. On a new layer, added a white border around the area I wanted to be visible. On another layer, I hand painted with a custom "wet paint" brush in a couple of dark oranges to create a border. Converted to a Smart Obj. Ran Radial Blur (5, spin, good), with the filter blend set to Multiply. Dup'd the filter and changed it's opacity to 50%.

Dup'd the smart obj, changed its blend to Linear Light. Dup'd again and changed blend to Hue. Dup'd again, blend to Exclusion. Merged these smart object/border layers to a new Smart Obj. Ran Maximize, 30px - to reel in the border a bit. Dup'd the S.O. rotated it 90 degrees, transformed it to fit over the other smart obj border layer, and clipped it to that layer. Changed blend to Linear Burn. Dup'd the rotated/transformed layer, clipped it to the others, and changed blend to Hard Light. Clipped a Hue Adjustment Layer to all of those, and set Reds Saturation -66. Merged all to a new Smart Object (why not?).

PS: It's worth noting that I hate the skin. If I have time, I intend to go back and give the skin another try. It looks fake to me.

Nobody Heard A Sound; Photoshop Fixes Challenge 52v2

read morepost a comment Sunday, April 11, 2010; 5:28 PM

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This image is a part of a series of challenges from the Flickr Group "Photoshop Fixes." The original photos are not my own. The original photo that was used can be found at: www.flickr.com/groups/1012591@N25/discuss/72157623673657719/

My Process

  1. Started with same adjustments/fixes in Camera Raw as my last entry.
  2. Split the foreground from the trees and sky.
  3. Below the sky layer, I added:
  4. Set sky layer to Color Burn, so it blended properly with the moon.
  5. On foreground, converted to smart obj, added 3px guassian blur & set the filter to Overlay.
    • Added solid color layer (9b9784) set to Linear Burn, masked for hightlights.
    • Added another solid color layer (59574c) set to linear burn, masked for bright highlights and opacity 80%.
    • Went back in on both masks and revealed areas that should be bright in the moonlight, like the top of the cement bag stacks, the skylight, etc.
    • Added another dark brown/gray layer (1f1e1a) set to Multiply at 52% opacity, and masked to help give the appearance of moonlight and shadows on the building and other foreground objects.
  6. Added man (http://www.flickr.com/photos/downtownmiami/2412105032/), masked for the section of ground he replaced, added a levels adjustment to darken him up, then hand painted shadows on him.
  7. Added the axe (http://www.flickr.com/photos/cornelluniversitylibrary/4359460505) and masked out its background. Rotated and masked out part that is embedded in the man's chest.
  8. Duplicated the Levels adjustment I used on the man and applied it to the axe, reduced its opacity to 83%. Added highlight to the axe using bevel/emboss effect. Added drop shadow, made the effect it's own layer and warped it to go across the man's body appropriately.
  9. Created a Clouds layer using a pale color and a dark brown from the image, adjusted with Levels to increase contrast. Converted to smart obj, and added a highlights mask. Converted to smart obj again and transformed with scale and perspective. Then added masking to try and make it "sit in" the scene better. Changed blend mode to Hard Light.
  10. Added color fill (393721) set to Color blend mode to unify the colors of all the elements.
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